Includes bibliographies and index

Masala is a word that conjures up many associations. The word derives, through Urdu and Persian, from the Arabic 'masalih—ingredients. To a westerner, it immediately suggests exotic eastern spices. In its most widespread metaphorical use in India, it means embellishment or exaggeration. It also means a mixture originally a mixture of ground spices, but more metaphorically any kind of mixture, especially one of cultural influences.While Shakespeare today is considered 'literature and is taught as a 'pure, 'high form of art, in his own day it was the quintessential 'masala entertainment he provided that attracted both the common people and the nobility. In Masala Shakespeare, Jonathan Gil Harris explores the profound resonances between Shakespeares craft and Indian cultural forms as well as their pervasive and enduring relationship in theatre and film. Indeed, the book is a love letter to popular cinema and other Indian storytelling forms. It is also a love letter to an idea of India